Railway mail receiving and delivering apparatus.



0.632,504. Patented sept. 5, |399.

H. F. SHARRER.

-RAILWAY HAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.-

(Applicaton led, June 20, 1899.)

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No. 632,504. Patented Sept. 5, |899.

' H. F. SII-IARRER.

RAILWAY MAIL RECIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

(Application filed .Tune 20, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NITED STATES PATENT Ottica.

HARRY F. SHA'RRER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

RAILWAY MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,504, datedSeptember 5, 1899.

Application iiled June 20, 1899. Serial lIo.l 721,202. (No model.)

.T0 LZZ whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HARRY F. SHARRER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Railway Mail Receiving and DeliveringApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an automatic de-v vice for railway mailservice for receiving and delivering mail to and from moving trains.

The object of the invention is to provide improved means for effectingthe automatic collection and delivery of mail-bags from a moving train.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is longitudinal section through a portion of acar-body andillustrates an inside view of a car having my improved device. Fig. 2 isa horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l and shows a plan view ofthe parts. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan View of the upper rack and guide.Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection through one side of the car and illustrates a plan view of thepost on the ground and the parts in the operating position. Fig. (i isan interior side view of a portion of a car, and illustrates themail-bags in positionv for both delivery and collection.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A designates a car-body having theusual sliding door a, which in the present instance is suspended by toprollers b from the usual trackwayb'. A rack-bar c is horizontallysecured on top of the door a and moves therewith, and said rack-barextends substantially the entire width of the door.

Secured to the wall of the car A at one side of the doorand above thetrackway b is a stationary horizontal guide d, and said guide isprovided with a guide-groove rl', having at one end a curved extensiond2. Just below the guide d the side of the car is provided with alongitudinal slot or opening c, which extends entirely through the wallof the car. A movable rack-bar fhas position beneath the stationaryguide d, and one end of said rack-bar cari-ics a pivoted L-shapedcontactarm g, and said arm is provided with an upward-projecting pin 7i,which takes in the stationary guide-groove d'. The other end of saidrack-bar f engages with a pinion if, which latter also engages with therack-bar c on the door.

The wall of the car A at the other side of the door is provided with asecond longitudinal slot j, which, like the slot e, extends entirelythrough the wall of the car, and an L-shaped contact device k has oneend pivoted at 7a2 to the car-door a, and the other end of said devicehas an arm 7a', which projects through said slot and has a horizontalsliding movement therein. A stationary horizontal guide Z is secured tothe wall of the car preferably flush with the lower edge of said slot jand is provided with a guide-groove Z, and said groove at one end curvesinward, as at Z2. A downward-projecting pin Z3 is carried by thecontact-arm 7c, and said pin takes in the guide-groove Z'.

The sliding door a of the car carries on its inside face across itsentire width a horizontal rack-bar m.

A vertical standard n is secured to the cariioor by its base n', andsaid standard is provided with a central socket 0. A pinion p engagesthe rack-bar in and is supported on the standard n by a central pinionp', which takes and revolves in the said central socket 0. A projectinghorizontal arm q has one end rigidly secured to the upper side of thepinion p, and the pinion and arm turn together. The free end of said armq carries a vertical rigid bar r, which projects above and below thearm, and said vertical bar is provided at each end with a pivotedcross-arm i" r2, and the upper arm i" carries at one end a weight r3.The two cross-arms i" and r2 are each provided with a pin r4, whichengages a ring on a mail-pouch s and supports it. The horizontal arm qis provided on its side opposite the vertical bar i' with a spring-clampt.

The parts so far described are all carried by the car; but in carryingout the invention I have provided a special construction of post to beplaced at mailing-stations, which post coacts with the parts carried bythe car, whereby the operation of receiving and delivering mail will beautomatic.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, a post l is suitably mounted intheground near the railroad-track and carries at the top a lateral arm2, having a pivoted extension 3, which is adapted to be projected towardthe track IOO when in use and to be turned upward when not in use. Belowthe said arm 2 the post is provided with a suitable bag-holding frameconsisting of a rigid upper arm 4 and lower arm 5, each of said armshavinU a pin u projecting in the direction the train is moving andadapted to take in rings on the mailpouch s. The same post l on theopposite side or on the side facing the direction in which the trainapproaches is provided with an arm 6, and said arm has a spring-clamp 7similar to the clamp t on the car.

The operation is as follows: Before reaching a station where mail isboth collected and delivered the mail-clerk on the train suspends thepouch s that is to be delivered to the crossarms fr and r2 by means ofthe pins r4, (see Fig. 1,) which holds the pouch in a vertical position.The mail-clerk at the station likewise suspends the pouch s that is tobe collected between the arms 4 and'5 of the post l. The balance of theoperation of delivering and collecting the pouches is automatic, and isas follows: When the mail-car arrives at the post l, (see Fig. 5,) theprojecting arm k of the sliding contact device lo on the car strikes thepivoted extension 3 on the post, and as the car advances in thedirection indicated by the arrow the said arm k is held stationary. Thecontact device Zo being secured at one end to the sliding door ct willopen the door, and the horizontal rack-bar fm, being in engagement withthe pinionp,will cause said pinion to revolve and swing the arm q aroundwith it. This revolution of the pinion will cause the arm q, carryingthe mail-pouch s, to describe an are, as illustrated by broken lines inFig. 2, and this revolution of the pinion will continue as long as thearm lo is in engagement with the eXtension 3. To release the arm 7D"from engagement with the extension 3, the pin Z3 takes in the groove Zand slides therein until it releases the inward curve Z2, whereupon thearm k will be released from the extension 3. It will now be seen that atthis particular moment the arm q has swung around and projects outwardbeyond the side of the car, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) with lthe spring-clampt pointing toward the front of the train. Now by referring to Fig. 6 itwill be seen that the spring-clamp t, carried by the car, and thespring-clamp 7, supported by the post l, are both to receive a pouch,the clamptengaging the pouch s and the clamp 7the pouch s. It will alsobe seen that the two clamps are in dierent horizontal planes in orderthat they may pass each other and that the clamp 7 on the post receivesthe pouch s rst. After the clamps have each received its pouch the carmoves forward and the contact-arm g strikes the pivoted extension 3 onthe post and is held stationary for an instant while the car continuesto move forward. Here the stationary guide d, havinga groove d and acurved extension d2, cooperates with the pin g, and as the car moves hon the contact-arm forward the curved extension d2, actingY on the pinh, draws the arm g out of engagement with the pivoted extension 3 on thepost. During thisfoperation it willbe seen that the rack-barf, beingsecured to the arm g, must necessarily move therewith, and such move--ment of the rack-barf causes the pinion 2' to revolve and close thedoor ce through the medium of the rack-bar c, secured on top of saiddoor. Now the operation of closing the door causes-the pinion p torevolvefand thereby swings the arm q around into the car, said armcarrying with it the collected mail-pouch. The collected mail-pouch isthen removed and another pouch to be delivered hung on the cross-arms rand r2, and the device is ready for another operation. f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of a car havinga sliding door; means forautomatically opening and closing the door; a rack-bar, m,V secured tothe inner side of the door; a pinionengaging said rack-bar; and apouch-carrying frame carried by said pinion whereby when the door isopened the said frame will be swung out of the open car-door. v

2. The combination of a car having a sliding door; a rack-bar, c,carried by said door; a rack-bar, f, having a contact-arm,g,whichprojects through a slot in the side of the car; a pinion engaging saidtwo rack-bars, and a stationary post near the railway-track, said posthaving an arm which contacts with the arm, g, on the car, whereby thedoor of lthe car will be automatically opened, for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination of a car having asliding door; two horizontal slotsin the side of IOO the car, one at either side of the door; contact-armsprojecting through and sliding in said two slots; means connecting thesaid contact-arms with-the door and a stationary post which coacts withthe said two contact-arms on the car, whereby the door will beV iirstopened and then closed, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a car having a sliding door; a rack-bar, c,carried by said door; a rack-bar, f, having a contact-arm, g,whichprojects through aslot in the side of the car; a pinion engaging saidtwo rack-bars; a contact device, 7c, secured to the car-door and havingau arm, 7c', which projects through a slot in the side of the car; and astationary post near the railway-track and having an arm which eoactswith the arms, g, andJc', on the car whereby the car-door may beautomatically opened and closed.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

HARRY FQSH'ARRER.

Witnesses: Y

CHARLES B. MANN, J r., CHAS. T. SHARRER.

IIO

